1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of games, and more specifically, concerns a game involving a multiplicity of dice, a cup for shaking and rolling dice, a score card, and a set of game instructions and rules of play. The game does not include a board, being generally played on a flat level surface such as a table top. The invention contemplates both the method of playing the game and the apparatus for doing so. The method is embodied in the game instructions and rules of play. The dice and cup can be replaced by any convenient random number selector(s).
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of games as pastimes is very old in the human experience. Most games involve the interaction of two or more players such as chess or checkers, although a few such as solitaire can be played by a single individual. Most games involve the use of a playing board, such as chess or checkers or Monopoly, but some do not require a board. An example of the later is Hochstim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,753 for a boardless maze game. A few require a specific habitat such as Van Der Mude, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,615 for a Fishing Game on Managed Habitat. Others require specific equipment such as Moore, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,876 for a Method of Playing Dice Game, Mannarino, U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,465 for Occularmotor Educational Device, and Barnes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,581 for Apparatus for Playing a Game. Others require specialized boards such as Fratangelo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,805 for War Game, and Mooney, U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,447 for Multiplication Square Game and Method.
In contrast, the present invention is a game that is a paragon of simplicity since it does not require a playing board, any specialized equipment or tokens. It preferably comprises twelve dice which can be either of the conventional type having one through six spots on each of its six faces of a cube or can have other indicia thereon indicating a series of sequential Arabic numbers such as one through six. The game may be played with two or more people and uses a score card that is kept by a designated score keeper/player who is also the first player in the sequence. The object is to achieve a series of sets and runs in accordance with rules through a plurality of rounds, preferably nine rounds. A set is defined as three or more dice having the same number while a run is defined as four or more dice in consecutive numerical order.